By Kimberly Vetter
The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — Baton Rouge fire investigators are asking East Baton Rouge Parish residents for help in solving a rash of arsons that began two months ago and appears to be continuing.
“We are doing everything we can, but we need help,” said Howard Ward, a Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman. “It’s time to get these criminals off the streets.”
Fire investigators worked 66 arsons, including car fires, in June and July - almost double what they normally see, Ward said.
Investigators fought two more arsons Wednesday: one at Brandywine Apartments at 10950 Darryl Drive and another at a vacant house behind St. Vincent de Paul at 1616 Convention St., he said.
There are no reports of any injuries during any of the arsons, but a few firefighters were checked for heat exhaustion early Wednesday while extinguishing the fire at Brandywine Apartments, Ward said. Nevertheless, people have been displaced from their homes.
Thirteen families from Brandywine Apartments were displaced July 19 when a 16-unit apartment building was set on fire, fire officials said. A woman, whose name was not released, was detained for questioning in that fire but was never arrested.
The fire Wednesday at Brandywine Apartments began about 2:30 a.m. at a vacant 10-unit apartment building on the southeast corner of the complex, Ward said. The fire started in a downstairs unit and spread to an upstairs unit, he said. Another six units sustained smoke damage.
Damage to the apartment building, which was not boarded up before the fire, totaled $70,000, Ward said.
The Wednesday fire on Convention Street occurred about 3:30 p.m. and took 20 minutes to put out, he said. The house, owned by St. Vincent de Paul, is a total loss.
Although fire investigators do not have evidence that indicates a serial arsonist is on the loose, they think some of the arsons during the past few months might be connected, Ward said.
An example of a possible connection, he said, is the July 31 arsons of three vehicles in the Garden District. All three incidents occurred during the same time frame, in the same area and by similar methods.
Historically, Ward said, people commit arson for one of four reasons: revenge, financial gain, mischief or because they like to see things burn.
Most of the arsons committed during the past few months, he said, likely were sparked out of mischief or revenge.
A woman whom investigators are looking for in the July 22 arson at 985 Monet Drive allegedly set her former boyfriend’s apartment on fire after he told her he had a new girlfriend, an arrest warrant says.
Kaunette Quinte Wright, 19, 806 E.H. Johnson St., Jonesville, piled some trash and paper in the middle of her ex-boyfriend’s living room and set it on fire, the warrant says. The fire caused $15,000 in damage and could have harmed the 30 other people living in the apartment building.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 22-year-old Zachary man on July 22 in the July 4 arson of his home, another arrest warrant says.
Christopher Cornelius Houston, 1015 Meadow Glen Drive, set his bedroom, dining room and living room on fire, the warrant says. Investigators found a trail of gasoline that led from one room to another. The motive was not specified.
The Fire Department’s five-person arson team investigates all arson cases in the parish except those involving a house of worship or causing more than $1 million in damage, Ward said. Those cases are usually investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
If a fire is believed to be intentionally set, Ward said, investigators look for whatever physical evidence might remain, interview witnesses and try to identify possible motives.
Investigators welcome any tips they can get from residents about such incidents, Ward said. Such tips can be called in to the Fire Department at (225) 345-1419 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.
“We have our hands full fighting accidental fires and responding to first-aid calls,” Ward said. “To me, it’s senseless to have to spend our efforts and jeopardize our firefighters’ safety for someone’s malicious act of setting a fire.”
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